PRAYER : Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the entire records leading to the impugned order C.No.D1/7208/2006 dated 26/09/2011, R.O.340/2011 on the file of the 2nd respondent and consequential impugned charge memo Na.Ka.No.F1 / Tha.Pa.No.105 /2024 dated 13/12/2024 on the file of the 1st respondent and quash the same and consequently direct the respondents to allow the petitioner to retire from service from the date of superannuation on 30/09/2011 with all consequential and other attendant benefits and directed the respondents to pay the pension with arrears from 01/10/2011 to till date with 7% interest and continue to pay the pension and pass orders.

ORDER

The writ petition has been filed for the following relief :

“ To issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the entire records leading to the impugned order C.No.D1/7208/2006 dated 26/09/2011, R.O.340/2011 on the file of the 2nd respondent and consequential impugned charge memo Na.Ka.No.F1 / Tha.Pa.No.105 /2024 dated 13/12/2024 on the file of the 1st respondent and quash the same and consequently direct the respondents to allow the petitioner to retire from service from the date of superannuation on 30/09/2011 with all consequential and other attendant benefits and directed the respondents to pay the pension with arrears from 01/10/2011 to till date with 7 percent interest and continue to pay the pension.”

The facts of the case set out in the affidavit are as follows :

(a)The petitioner was appointed as Grade-I Police Constable on 15.04.1974 and was promoted as Sub Inspector of Police in December 1998. He had served at Palladam Police Station till 03.08.2006, and thereafter, transferred to Tiruppur South Crime Police Station by proceedings of the Superintendent of Police, Coimbatore District dated 24.07.2006. The petitioner had joined the duty on 04.08.2006, and had rendered over 32 years of service.

(b)While so, one Ponnusamy had lodged a complaint on 06.07.2006 before the Tiruppur South Crime Police Station alleging theft of TVS-60 motorcycle bearing Vehicle No.TN-39-A-6720 on 05.07.2006. This complaint was given to the Sub Inspector of Police, who was on duty. The petitioner would submit that on the date of the alleged theft, he was not working at the Tiruppur South Crime Police Station and was working in the Palladam Police Station. He had been relieved from Palladam Police Station only on 03.08.2006, and joined the duty at Tiruppur South Crime Police Station on 04.08.2006.

(c)Thereafter, the said Ponnusamy had lodged a complaint on 04.09.2006 before the Coimbatore District Vigilance and Anti-Corruption against the said Govindasamy (whose name was wrongly given as his name is S.Govindaraj) and also against constable Mani. In the said complaint before the Vigilance Authority, he had stated that on 06.07.2006, he had lodged a complaint against the above two constables and handed over the same to the petitioner herein, and also that he had visited the police station after three days, and had enquired with me about the complaint and at which point in time, the petitioner had informed him that he would inform him as soon as the vehicle was recovered. According to the petitioner, he had never seen the complainant, prior to joining his duty at Tiruppur Police Station.

(d)The complainant had further alleged in his complaint that when he approached the Sub Inspector of Police after 10 days, he came to learn that his vehicle had been recovered by the Department and the petitioner had initially demanded a bribe of Rs.2,000/-, which was later reduced to a sum of Rs.1,700/-. Based on the complaint, a trap was laid on 04.09.2006, and the payment was received by Govindaraj.

(e)The petitioner would submit that as already stated, he had joined the duty at Tiruppur Police Station only on 04.08.2006, and the date on which the trap was set, i.e., on 04.09.2006, he had been depute